WRC orders Louth restaurant to pay 'exploited' migrant worker €79,214 compensation

Gordon Deegan

An ‘exploited’ migrant worker who alleges to have been paid an effective hourly rate of €1.61 has been awarded a cumulative €79,214 compensation by a State workplace watchdog.

In the case at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) Adjudicator, Brian Dalton has ordered restaurant operator, Madhu Foods Limited trading as Guru Indian Cuisine of Park Street, Townlands, Dundalk, to pay Vasantkumar Barot €79,214 for a series of workplace legislation breaches.

Mr Barot was represented in the case by the Sylwia Nowakowska of Migrant Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI) and at WRC hearing, Mr Barot in sworn evidence alleged that the restaurant firm, misled him, received close to €15,000 from him to pay for a work permit, was told he would work as a Commis Chef for 40 hours a week and earn about €570 a week.

Mr Barot borrowed funds from his family and friends to pay for the work permit and arrived in Ireland in mid-March 2023.

Mr Barot alleged that he was directed to work on a farm owned by the restaurant firm from early in the morning and then would be told to work at one of the restaurants controlled by the firm.

However, Mr Barot alleged that he worked on average more than 90 hours a week and received irregular payments from his employer in cash or by electronic funds transfer in amounts ranging from €1,000 to €99. 

Mr Barot alleged that he received €11,6000 in total between March 14th, 2023, and March 26th, 2024, and his average gross rate per hour it is alleged was €2.96 in 2023 and €1.61 in 2024.

There was no appearance by the restaurant firm at the WRC hearing to rebut any of the allegations made, and Mr Barot alleged that he was exploited most egregiously by his employer. 

Mr Barot alleged that he paid his employer a large sum of money that he had to borrow on the promise that he would have a good job. He was then led to believe that he continued to owe his employer money based on the false assertions that the work permit payments were far greater than they actually were and that he had to pay for that permit.

Mr Barot said that the oppressive conditions he endured by him led him to run away "from what amounted to economic slavery, distressed and fearful about his future".

In his findings, Mr Dalton ordered that the company pay Mr Barot €24,500 compensation for breaching the National Minimum Wage Act after Mr Barot alleged that he worked above 90 hours a week. 

Mr Dalton said there are no records to support that 90-hour claim other than oral evidence, and the employer carries the burden to keep records. 

He said that Mr Barot also must have some evidential obligation, and at a minimum, that should be some corroborating facts. 

Mr Dalton said that while the employee gave credible evidence that he worked long hours, with an average weekly working time of more than 48 hours, in the absence of any records, "and noting the employer’s obligation to keep records, I have decided that the claim for minimum wage is assessed on the statutory maximum of 48 hours per week". 

In his findings, Mr Dalton stated that there is no question that Mr Barot was exploited.

Mr Dalton awarded €15,000 compensation concerning Mr Barot’s excessive working hours claim; €10,000 for not receiving rest periods between shifts, and €15,000 for harassment on the grounds of race.

Mr Dalton states that the making of the €15,000 award for the act of harassment on the grounds of race, and the fact that it was "most egregious."